The county is trying to keep one of the most vulnerable sections of its population as safe as possible during the dire winter months, and amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
This Santa visit will take place while the Mall is closed so kids with special needs or disabilities can handle the environment and still get in the Christmas spirit!
All public schools in New Jersey are required to have transitional programs for special needs students through age 21. Here, officials have taken the mandate to a new level, purchasing and renovating a home to serve as a "transitional house."
Last month, a new nonprofit organization was publicly introduced, hoping to fill the gaps in resources and services that may be inaccessible or inadequate for Monmouth County teens with special needs. And the group's founder is still a teenager herself.
In the last 13 years, the Miracle League of Mercer County has afforded children with special needs the opportunity to play baseball, just as numerous other Miracle League charters around the country have done since the nonprofit's inception in Atlanta in 1999.
Construction is now underway for LifeTown, a Livingston facility that will give children, teenagers and young adults with special needs the chance to learn real-world skills in a comfortable setting.
Superstorm Sandy recovery funding is contributing to the construction of a 72-apartment complex in Toms River that will cater to Sandy victims as well as individuals with special needs, just one of many affordable housing projects in line for federal dollars.